Two girls, one dog

Amsterdam Ad Blog, 5 August 2014

There was a bit of a stir the past weeks over the Radio 538 ads; two girls licking a German wiener. I am guessing that many people found it shocking because they imagined it to be ahuman wiener – especially when seeing the pixelated one. Before I got wind of the public outrage, I passed the ads several times on my bicycle. I shrugged my shoulders and thought: typically Radio 538. Target group: teens and tweens, probably. Brand essence: bad taste. Although at 538 they probably call it ‘playfully provocative’ or something. I didn’t see the harm and was surprised that everyone was talking about it. Especially since I very well remember the 538 ad with the guy breakdancing on his dick. Nobody was talking about that. It makes this one look rather corny.

Online however the “two girls one dog” ad was hot. The reactions were so strong that Indie, the agency that everyone thought made it, felt compelled to write a press release saying it wasn’t their ad. And the agency that did make it, SUE, got a death threat. Though death threats, I need to add, have somewhat inflated ever since the digital brain fart doesn’t need a stamp.

Apart from the people that were confronted with their own dirty mind – seeing two girls practicing fellatio (ew!) – there was another group of people that felt insulted; those who thought it was sexist.

Even this layer in the ad I don’t get. What’s wrong with the idea of two girls having fun with one guy? They are both smiling, right? So nobody is forcing them. The German is actually the only one not smiling – but we all know that Germans don’t smile too often. Seriously though; why aren’t women allowed to openly show they enjoy giving head? I would like to turn things around; the fact that you can in this country gives women a very emancipatory status.

What’s more, if people complain about this ad, they should also complain about lingerie ads; women portrayed as lust objects, looking seductively – or even submissively – into the camera. You could argue that they just have to look attractive for the opposite sex. Talking about sexist! And that’s not all; these women advertise unhealthy diets, fake boobs and plastic surgery.

So, if you’re not complaining about these anorectic, naked lingerie (and bathing suit) ads that reduce women to bodies, it’s rather hypocrite to be shocked by two healthy looking Dutch girls who are enjoying themselves with a hot dog.